Professor Kevin Kerr – Superbugs

Posted September 14, 2011

Potential solutions to superbugs including those found in your own home.

We caught up with Professor Kevin Kerr, visiting Professor at the School of Engineering, Design and Technology here at the University of Bradford, to talk about his event “If Superbugs are the problem, can the solution be found in your kitchen?”

He explained that there are some highly resistant bacteria that have no antibiotics left to treat them leading to potentially untreatable infections. Drug companies aren’t discovering new antibiotics so we’ve got to discover new, alternatives to conventional antibiotics to treat these serious infections.

The session was about looking at natural alternatives to antibiotics, and participants had a look at extracts from herbs and spices, yoghurt and probiotics and cranberry juice and a whole range of infection fighting materials that they would be able to find in their own kitchen.

Professor Kerr also talked to us about infections in hospitals and the high level of patients who contract an infection whilst in hospital, such as MRSA, and how researchers at the University are finding solutions to these infections.

Bradford Infection Group is looking at new technologies to prevent the spread of bugs using the state-of-the-art facilities at the University of Bradford, such as the aerobiological test chamber – the only one of its kind in the world.

These facilities, along with the concentration of multi-disciplinary expertise puts Bradford at the forefront of this kind of research.